Dawn's Reading Nook: Guest Author Day with Zrinka Jelic

I had the pleasure of talking with author Zrenika Jelic today about their new book, The Wedding Date.

Thanks for stopping by to talk a little about your writing! Let's jump right in. When did you begin writing and why?

I don’t remember the time when I didn’t write. Just ask my mom, she wiped off many of my scribbling from the walls. And back then we didn’t have easy wipe crayons. Every coloring book, or any empty space on the page I had to fill up with words.

Still, I didn’t start writing the stories down seriously until 2009 after I read the first book in Twilight series. It was advertised as something totally different and amazing and that’s what I was expecting, but in the end it left me confused and dissatisfied. I was left wondering where that wow factor, the oomph this book was sold under is.

Do you have a favorite genre? Is it the same genre you prefer to write?

Of course, I love romance of any kind. But I read any books of any genre and if there is a bit of romance, that much better.

Do certain themes and ideas tend to capture your writer’s imagination and fascinate you?

Always, I’m intrigued by the unexplained, the spirits among us. Do they drive us? Or could it be that our subconscious mind that drives us? Our subconscious mind is like a huge memory bank. Its capacity is virtually unlimited. It permanently stores everything that ever happens to us. When the memories are unpleasant or in extreme cases horrid, we tend to suppress them deep into our sub consciousness. It only takes a smallest thing to bring them to the surface but sometimes we can’t recognize them as something that we lived in the past. Therefore, we often run from them when in fact we should explore them to find out what lies beneath those morphed images that our mind is projecting.

How do you balance long-term thinking vs. being nimble in today's market?

Well, it’s hard. I see many authors publishing books almost on a monthly basis. With my day job, family obligations and home, I’m lucky if I turn one book a year. Unfortunately, writing is not my full time career as much as I want it to be. That’s not going to happen until I’m fully retired and my kids are grown up and don’t need me as much.

How do you find readers in today's market?

Mostly through blog appearances, word of mouth, Facebook ads and other social media.

Do you come up with the hook first, or do you create characters first and then dig through until you find a hook?

It depends, sometimes the hook comes to me right away, other times I don’t have one until I type the end.

How do you create your characters?

They seem to create themselves. I get the vision of what they want to look like and how their looks determines their behaviors, thoughts, and actions.

What's on the top of your TBR pile right now?

At the moment I have several books on the go. I’m still trying to muster courage to continue reading the third installment of Game of Thrones “A Storm of Swords” since I know the ‘red wedding’ is coming. It was pretty gruesome TV scene, I’m hoping George R. R. Martin toned it down in his writing.

Tell me a little about the characters in The Wedding Date. It’s my first self-published book. Unfortunately, I had some issues with the editor I’ve hired for the job that didn’t quite edited the script. I had to take the book down until I corrected all the errors she omitted.

It’s a romantic comedy of the two different people who admire each other from afar and neither can muster the courage to approach the other. However, they lied to their families that they are dating. When they receive the invitations to the wedding, they are to bring their dates so they plan to invite each other (separately). Turns out the wedding they must attend is the same wedding. Now they need to practice their ‘relationship’ to fool their families they are a ‘real’ couple, but pretending soon turns out into a real deal.

Where’s the story set? How much influence did the setting have on the atmosphere/characters/development of the story?

The story is set in a small town of Cambridge, Ontario as well as Toronto. Settings always have a huge influence on my writing. All of my other books are set either fully or partially in my country of origin, Croatia. It’s a challenging to bring this picturesque surrounding to life on the pages. The reviewers often mention how my descriptive writing transformed them into the place they felt as if they are right there taking a mental vacation. Some even added Croatia to their travel destination.

If you had to write your memoir in five words, what would you write?

The girl who loves telling stories.

How often does your muse distract you from day to day minutiae?

All the time. Pictures of my current wip pop in my head when least expected but I learned to always be prepared and carry a pad and pen with me so I can jot down her musings.

What do readers have to look forward to in the future from you?

Writing The Wedding Date had taught me that I’m enjoying romantic comedies. I like the light tone and wittiness in them. So my next work in progress is another romantic comedy with a touch of paranormal. However, I have one book that is being re-released by the Wild Rose Press. It was previously published under the title “Gypsy Stone” and it’s now coming out under “Dangerous Benevolence”. This is a romantic suspense. Quite opposite of romantic comedy, but writing this book was so hard for me since it’s outside of my normal light and witty genre. Still at times I had to tone the muse down and remind myself that this is a suspense after all. The two brothers in the book like to tease each other too much, but they are the only ones left in the family and they had lived through some tough times so they like to reminisce on those hard times through humor.

The Wedding Date

Zrinka Jelic

Contemporary

Check it out at Amazon

Nerissa (Neri) Runic, in her late thirties, single and overweight, is deemed unmarriageable by her family. So she fabricated a story about dating Mark Warren, a sexy doctor and the gym owner she's been ogling for months. She thinks none of her lies will come back to haunt her. When her mother RSVP s to the cousin's wedding invitation on her behalf including a Plus One, Neri has no choice but to attend...or come clean and face her family's scrutiny.
Frustrated with everyone trying to fix him up on a blind date, Mark Warren lied about dating an elusive redheaded member of his gym who caught his eye months ago. Only, he fully intends to turn this lie into truth. Once he musters enough courage to approach her, that is.
With hardly a month before his cousin's wedding, he hopes his mother would reply to the invitation, declining his attendance. But getting out of this obligation is out of question. She expects him to reply with ‘happy to attend with a guest’.
When they find out they are forced to attend the same wedding, Mark and Neri must practice their 'relationship' in an effort to fool their families into thinking they are a real couple.
But the thin line between pretending and the real deal is easily crossed.
This book has been re-edited since its original release.

About the Author